Latest news with #WeillCornellMedicine
Sydney Morning Herald
7 days ago
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
Why some men trying for a family are ditching their hair loss treatments
Stone had known there was a small possibility of reduced libido and erectile dysfunction (between 1 per cent and 2 per cent), but he didn't know that the drug might be linked to his fertility struggles. Finasteride is prescribed at higher doses to treat enlarged prostates and has been known to mildly affect sperm counts. But Dr James Kashanian, a urologist and the director of male sexual health at Weill Cornell Medicine, said the drug has also 'significantly affected' some patients' sperm quality, even at 1 milligram, the dose typically prescribed for hair loss. Unlike with other side effects of the drug, it's not clear how common reduced sperm counts are, and much of the data is anecdotal. While some doctors say that it can be a significant problem, especially among men already struggling with fertility issues, others say it plays a relatively small role. Still, many young men are not aware of any potential risks, said Dr Mary Samplaski, a urologist and the former director of male infertility at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. Will Stone had been prescribed finasteride for hair loss through the US telehealth company Hims & Hers. A senior vice president at the company said it provides information about finasteride when patients are prescribed it and includes a warning on its website about infertility and poor sperm quality. In most cases, fertility issues seem to reverse within a few months of going off the medication and there is no evidence it causes birth defects. In Stone's case, he stopped taking it the day his urologist told him to. When he tested again 10 weeks later, his sperm count had jumped to 250 million per millilitre, a 125-fold increase. A 'Male Contraceptive'? In 1999, the first peer-reviewed study to look at finasteride and sperm quantity found no effects. But a small 2013 study, led by Samplaski, focused specifically on 27 men dealing with infertility issues while taking finasteride. Researchers asked them to go off the drug for three months, the amount of time it typically takes for a new population of sperm to form. When the men were retested after going off finasteride, they registered an 11-fold increase in sperm counts on average. Researchers suspect that the reason for the decline in sperm count is that the medication can shift the balance of hormones in the body, said Dr Scott Lundy, the program director of urology at the Cleveland Clinic. It does this by suppressing the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone, or DHT, which has been found to lead to baldness. Loading For some people, disrupting hormonal ratios can create fertility issues. 'A lot of people don't know that testosterone is a male contraceptive,' said Dr Kirk Lo, a urologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto who worked on the study with Samplaski. However, there are very few high-quality studies looking at finasteride and sperm counts, and not every doctor considers it an important factor in fertility. Dr Kian Asanad, the director of the USC Fertility and Men's Sexual Health Centre, says he couldn't recall a case when taking a patient off finasteride solved their fertility issues independently. 'I keep it in the back of my mind as a possible factor, but I would say it's a less common thing.' In the US, Kashanian says he has had more conversations about finasteride in recent years as more men have come in seeking treatment for infertility. Dr Marc Goldstein, the surgeon-in-chief of male reproductive medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, agreed and says that after he lays out the risks of taking finasteride while trying to conceive, some patients will choose to stay on the medication. 'Vanity reigns supreme,' he says. But others, like Stone, are happy to go off the hair treatment. After his sperm count rebounded, last year he and his wife had a healthy baby boy. He has no plans to go back on finasteride any time soon. 'I'd have gladly lost every hair on my head to have the kid we have now,' he says.
The Age
7 days ago
- Health
- The Age
Why some men trying for a family are ditching their hair loss treatments
Stone had known there was a small possibility of reduced libido and erectile dysfunction (between 1 per cent and 2 per cent), but he didn't know that the drug might be linked to his fertility struggles. Finasteride is prescribed at higher doses to treat enlarged prostates and has been known to mildly affect sperm counts. But Dr James Kashanian, a urologist and the director of male sexual health at Weill Cornell Medicine, said the drug has also 'significantly affected' some patients' sperm quality, even at 1 milligram, the dose typically prescribed for hair loss. Unlike with other side effects of the drug, it's not clear how common reduced sperm counts are, and much of the data is anecdotal. While some doctors say that it can be a significant problem, especially among men already struggling with fertility issues, others say it plays a relatively small role. Still, many young men are not aware of any potential risks, said Dr Mary Samplaski, a urologist and the former director of male infertility at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. Will Stone had been prescribed finasteride for hair loss through the US telehealth company Hims & Hers. A senior vice president at the company said it provides information about finasteride when patients are prescribed it and includes a warning on its website about infertility and poor sperm quality. In most cases, fertility issues seem to reverse within a few months of going off the medication and there is no evidence it causes birth defects. In Stone's case, he stopped taking it the day his urologist told him to. When he tested again 10 weeks later, his sperm count had jumped to 250 million per millilitre, a 125-fold increase. A 'Male Contraceptive'? In 1999, the first peer-reviewed study to look at finasteride and sperm quantity found no effects. But a small 2013 study, led by Samplaski, focused specifically on 27 men dealing with infertility issues while taking finasteride. Researchers asked them to go off the drug for three months, the amount of time it typically takes for a new population of sperm to form. When the men were retested after going off finasteride, they registered an 11-fold increase in sperm counts on average. Researchers suspect that the reason for the decline in sperm count is that the medication can shift the balance of hormones in the body, said Dr Scott Lundy, the program director of urology at the Cleveland Clinic. It does this by suppressing the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone, or DHT, which has been found to lead to baldness. Loading For some people, disrupting hormonal ratios can create fertility issues. 'A lot of people don't know that testosterone is a male contraceptive,' said Dr Kirk Lo, a urologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto who worked on the study with Samplaski. However, there are very few high-quality studies looking at finasteride and sperm counts, and not every doctor considers it an important factor in fertility. Dr Kian Asanad, the director of the USC Fertility and Men's Sexual Health Centre, says he couldn't recall a case when taking a patient off finasteride solved their fertility issues independently. 'I keep it in the back of my mind as a possible factor, but I would say it's a less common thing.' In the US, Kashanian says he has had more conversations about finasteride in recent years as more men have come in seeking treatment for infertility. Dr Marc Goldstein, the surgeon-in-chief of male reproductive medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, agreed and says that after he lays out the risks of taking finasteride while trying to conceive, some patients will choose to stay on the medication. 'Vanity reigns supreme,' he says. But others, like Stone, are happy to go off the hair treatment. After his sperm count rebounded, last year he and his wife had a healthy baby boy. He has no plans to go back on finasteride any time soon. 'I'd have gladly lost every hair on my head to have the kid we have now,' he says.
Zawya
14-07-2025
- Health
- Zawya
WCM-Q clinician scientist ranked number one medical researcher in Qatar for third year running
Doha – Dr. Rayaz Malik, professor of medicine and assistant dean for clinical research partnerships at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) and senior consultant physician in endocrinology and diabetes at Hamad Medical Corporation, has been ranked the number one researcher in medicine in Qatar for the third year in a row by an independent research portal that compiles a global list of high-achieving scientists each year. The list also ranked Dr. Malik among the top 10,000 researchers in medicine in the world, placing him at number 8,350. The ranking is based on an analysis of the number of influential pieces of research authored by the scientist, combined with awards, fellowships and academic recognition they have received from leading research institutions and government agencies. To date, Dr. Malik has published 729 scientific papers, and his work has been cited 40,188 times. The majority of his research (over 350 papers) has been published since he joined WCM-Q from the University of Manchester, UK in June 2014. Dr. Malik said: 'Our clinical research program is now recognized internationally, with Qatar ranking second in the world for publications in diabetic neuropathy, with a Relative Publication Output per capita (RPOP) of 18.01 publications per inhabitant. I am very grateful for the support from WCM-Q and the investment in research infrastructure made by Qatar Foundation and the Ministry of Public Health.' Dr. Malik added: 'According to the Global Burden of Disease study published in Lancet Neurology in 2024, neurodegenerative diseases affect 3.4 billion people across the world and diabetic neuropathy, characterized by pain, numbness and ulcers with lower leg amputation, has witnessed the biggest increase (92%) in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) from 1990 to 2021. The key to improving patient's lives with neurodegenerative diseases is earlier diagnosis and treatment.' With this as a key focus, Dr. Malik and his team have pioneered use of the Corneal Confocal Microscope (CCM), a rapid eye scan to diagnose and predict progression of diabetic neuropathy, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, dementia, schizophrenia and autism, among other conditions. Dr. Malik also said: 'Our clinical research program could not have been so successful without our very positive collaborations with clinicians and researchers in major healthcare institutions across Qatar, including diabetes and endocrinology and neurology and the Clinical Trials Unit in Hamad Medical Corporation; endocrinology and gastroenterology in Sidra Medicine and several key departments in Hamad Bin Khalifa University and Qatar University.' About Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar is a partnership between Cornell University and Qatar Foundation. It offers a comprehensive Six-Year Medical Program leading to the Cornell University M.D. degree with teaching by Cornell and Weill Cornell faculty and by physicians at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Sidra Medicine, the Primary Health Care Corporation, and Aspetar Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, who hold Weill Cornell appointments. Through its biomedical research program, WCM-Q is building a sustainable research community in Qatar while advancing basic science and clinical research. Through its medical college, WCM-Q seeks to provide the finest education possible for medical students, to improve health care both now and for future generations, and to provide high quality health care to the Qatari population. For more info, please contact: Hanan Lakkis Associate Director, Media and Publications Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar hyl2004@
Al Bawaba
14-07-2025
- Health
- Al Bawaba
WCM-Q clinician scientist ranked number one medical researcher in Qatar for third year running
Dr. Rayaz Malik, professor of medicine and assistant dean for clinical research partnerships at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) and senior consultant physician in endocrinology and diabetes at Hamad Medical Corporation, has been ranked the number one researcher in medicine in Qatar for the third year in a row by an independent research portal that compiles a global list of high-achieving scientists each list also ranked Dr. Malik among the top 10,000 researchers in medicine in the world, placing him at number 8,350. The ranking is based on an analysis of the number of influential pieces of research authored by the scientist, combined with awards, fellowships and academic recognition they have received from leading research institutions and government agencies. To date, Dr. Malik has published 729 scientific papers, and his work has been cited 40,188 times. The majority of his research (over 350 papers) has been published since he joined WCM-Q from the University of Manchester, UK in June Malik said: 'Our clinical research program is now recognized internationally, with Qatar ranking second in the world for publications in diabetic neuropathy, with a Relative Publication Output per capita (RPOP) of 18.01 publications per inhabitant. I am very grateful for the support from WCM-Q and the investment in research infrastructure made by Qatar Foundation and the Ministry of Public Health.'Dr. Malik added: 'According to the Global Burden of Disease study published in Lancet Neurology in 2024, neurodegenerative diseases affect 3.4 billion people across the world and diabetic neuropathy, characterized by pain, numbness and ulcers with lower leg amputation, has witnessed the biggest increase (92%) in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) from 1990 to 2021. The key to improving patient's lives with neurodegenerative diseases is earlier diagnosis and treatment.'With this as a key focus, Dr. Malik and his team have pioneered use of the Corneal Confocal Microscope (CCM), a rapid eye scan to diagnose and predict progression of diabetic neuropathy, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, dementia, schizophrenia and autism, among other conditions. Dr. Malik also said: 'Our clinical research program could not have been so successful without our very positive collaborations with clinicians and researchers in major healthcare institutions across Qatar, including diabetes and endocrinology and neurology and the Clinical Trials Unit in Hamad Medical Corporation; endocrinology and gastroenterology in Sidra Medicine and several key departments in Hamad Bin Khalifa University and Qatar University.'
The National
04-07-2025
- Health
- The National
Could we learn to read the minds of people trapped in vegetative states?
Twenty years ago groundbreaking research showed that a woman in a vegetative state was actually conscious – and since then these findings have been repeated in many more patients. Yet in the past two decades progress in treating individuals occupying this twilight zone of wakefulness without obvious awareness has remained slow. 'I think this is one of the most difficult areas of clinical medicine that exists today, for lots of reasons,' says Prof Nicholas Schiff, a neurologist at Weill Cornell Medicine, the medical school of Cornell University in New York. 'Personally I think one of the reasons is that it makes people very uncomfortable, because we haven't yet shown very clearly how to help people who are in this condition.' But could brain-computer interfaces, which translate a person's thoughts into an output in a computer, change all this? In the coming years patients could, says Prof Schiff, be 'put into a situation where they're able to have their intentions of mind and thought read directly from neuronal activity'. Work by Prof Adrian Owen, professor of cognitive neuroscience at Western University in Canada, has been pivotal in helping to improve the understanding of people in a vegetative state. Breakthrough discovery In 1997, while a research fellow at the University of Cambridge in the UK, Prof Owen began using scanners to analyse the brains of patients. When shown pictures of friends and family, Kate Bainbridge, a patient at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge who was in a vegetative state at the time, showed activity in the fusiform gyrus, part of the brain linked to facial recognition. 'I was really excited about this – the fact you had a patient who was completely non-responsive but her brain was activating to familiar faces,' Prof Owen says. 'It really blew my mind. I thought, 'What does it mean?' Is she really there or is her brain on some kind of autopilot where it can recognise faces? It initiated this fascination in this question of whether any of these patients were more than they appeared to be.' Each time a suitable patient came into Addenbrooke's Hospital, which is the major trauma centre for the east of England, Prof Owen would carry out tests – and many patients showed brain activity in response to speech or faces. After seeing several dozen individuals, Prof Owen and his colleagues sought to confirm that the patients were actually conscious. 'Rather than being something automatic, it had to be something that came from the will of the person,' he said. In work carried out two decades ago using functional magnetic resonance imaging scans, the brain of a vegetative state patient lit up in one region when she was asked to imagine playing tennis, and in another region when she was asked to pretend that she was walking around her home. The results tallied with findings from healthy volunteers, indicating that the patient could understand and act upon the instructions she had been given. 'It's fascinating that 20 years later, imagining playing tennis is still the gold standard,' says Prof Owen, who is the author of the book Into the Grey Zone: A Neuroscientist Explores the Border Between Life and Death. 'We've done it in different ways and so have other people, but no one has improved on it. It still seems to be the most straightforward way of determining if someone is aware or not.' A 2024 paper, whose authors include Prof Schiff and Prof Owen, analysed findings from 353 patients to confirm earlier results that about a quarter of people regarded as being in a vegetative state are actually aware. Someone may end up in a vegetative state for a variety of reasons, such as a stroke, a cardiac arrest − which can cause a loss of oxygen to the brain − or asphyxiation, perhaps from a swimming pool accident, from being buried under snow in an avalanche or from a failed hanging attempt. Being in a vegetative state is not the same as being brain dead, because, as the UK's National Health Service notes, with the vegetative state the brain stem is functioning and the person usually breathes unaided. While awake, people in a vegetative state typically cannot interact with their surroundings. The brain imaging work, however, opened up the possibility of having interactions with those 25 per cent or so of patients who show awareness: they might be asked to think of playing tennis to answer yes to a question, or to think of walking round their home to answer no. A lifeline for loved ones The realisation that some of patients may actually be conscious has been, Prof Owen says, 'amazing' for their relatives. 'It's really changed the way families treat patients. You can see that every day,' he says. 'Because these patients are largely inanimate and don't really do anything, I think there was a time when they were treated more like objects than people. 'But they much more get treated like people now, certainly by the families that we interact with.' While families may treat vegetative state patients differently, and nurses may, Prof Owen says, talk to them as if they are conscious, medical care has not moved on significantly. Tests, such as the one about playing tennis versus walking round the house, have yet to be standardised so that they can be used routinely by clinicians to find out which patients are conscious. Turning to technology Key to further progress could be brain-computer interfaces, which allow the brain to communicate directly with an external device. While a decade ago these might have let a person to control a mouse over a keyboard, today they can enable a patient to talk just by thinking in a certain way. Prof Schiff, the senior author of the 2024 study, describes the field as being 'just pre-tipping point'. 'For the last 10 years it's been obvious to me that we have tools to try, in the form of brain-computer interface technologies, that could work in some people,' he says. 'We're trying to partner with people to do that, trying to get the resources to do that. It's going to be complicated, it's probably going to fail a lot and it's going to be costly.' He predicts that, five years from now, some vegetative state patients will have been able to express themselves through a brain-computer interface, providing testimony that could spur further progress. 'They will be able to advocate for others who are not yet able to do that,' he says. 'It may take more than one or two people. It may take a while. This takes a long time for people to get their minds around. This is not an easy space to navigate.' Just as this area of medicine may be poised for a breakthrough in clinical practice, the original work led by Prof Owen continues to captivate observers. 'There's interest in making a movie now, which is quite exciting,' Prof Owen says. 'There is a script being circulated and financing in place, so I think a movie will appear in the next couple of years, which is quite exciting. 'It's such a fascinating story – a fascinating science story, but I think the fact people continue to be interested in it shows it's a really interesting human-interest story as well.'
